Windsor without mayor pro tem after contentious meeting

Windsor is without a mayor pro tem after its town board struggled Monday night to agree on who should fill the role.

During the contentious meeting, an original resolution to appoint Robert Bishop-Cotner as mayor pro tem failed, as did two resulting nominations to make Kristie Melendez and then Myles Baker pro tem. They all failed as they didn't reach a needed super majority.

As part of the original meeting agenda, the resolution to make Bishop-Cotner the new mayor pro tem was struck down first, with Melendez, who was the most recent pro tem, citing her and her constituents' wishes for Melendez to serve another two-year term in the same capacity.

As of late April, when the board decided to push the mayor pro tem vote to Monday, Melendez's time in that role expired. Since then, Windsor has officially not had a mayor pro tem, Town Attorney Ian McCargar said.

The duty of a mayor pro tem is to step in and perform the responsibilities of the mayor if he/she is absent or unable to, according to the town charter.

Windsor's Home Rule Charter does not require the appointment of a mayor pro tem for the board to function, though, he added.

But, according to Melendez — who also represents District 4 — the job is much more.

Calling it a "position of action," Melendez cited her good attendance at community events and her hard work as mayor pro tem. Because of the role's importance to the community, and her constituents' wishes for her to be reappointed, Melendez added that she could not support Bishop-Cotner as mayor pro tem.

She was one of four dissenting votes for the original resolution. The others were Mayor John Vazquez, Ivan Adams and Christian Morgan.

"The board can still carry out its functions until a mayor pro tem is appointed," McCargar said Tuesday. "The absence of a mayor pro tem appointment is not fatal to the board's ability to do its job for the community."

Board member Jeremy Rose originally nominated Bishop-Cotner for the role at an earlier board meeting.

"I think BC (Bishop-Cotner) would have been a good choice," Rose said to the board after the first vote failed, and the agenda was amended to nominate Melendez as mayor pro tem. "It (changing the position every two years) gives us an opportunity to bring in new perspective."

Rose continued, saying he could not support Melendez for mayor pro tem "based on just advocating for change."

Rose was one of three board members who voted "no" on Melendez being reappointed to the position. The other two were Bishop-Cotner and Baker, who was then nominated by Rose as a compromise between Bishop-Cotner and Melendez.

That nomination, too, failed to get a super majority vote.

Now, McCargar said he's not aware of any specific plans for the board to address its lack of a mayor pro tem, adding that "although it is important, there is no urgency to it."

Baker, who said Tuesday that he was fine with the outcome of the meeting, said he also understands that people vote for their own reasons.

"I have no problem with that," he added.

"My only disappointment was that I didn't get a chance to speak."

As for the board's next move, Baker said he's not sure what that will look like.

Currently, the mayor pro tem seat remains vacant and Mayor John Vazquez said Tuesday that it's up to the board on how they want to proceed.

"It's great that we have people interested in being mayor pro tem," Vazquez said, adding that in previous years the position has always been vacated either because the person didn't run for reelection or wasn't re-elected.

"(Monday's events) caught several of us by surprise, and it is unfortunate the way it did unfold," he added. "But we are where we are now."

And where is that exactly?

"There may be further discussion and there may be a consensus (from the board) at some point," McCargar said. "This is something that the board will work out for itself."